This invention relates to a method of concurrently promoting general oral hygiene, treating periodontal diseases such as gingivitis, killing oral microbes including cavity-causing bacteria, increasing blood flow in oral tissues, promoting gingival tissue regeneration, fostering osteogenesis in the boney structures of the teeth, mouth and related areas, and treating other periodontal and oral maladies through the non-invasive application of weak direct current electricity to the surfaces in the oral cavity, and it also relates to an apparatus suitable for providing direct current electricity for these therapeutic, prophylactic, and regenerative effects.
The benefits of electrical current for the treatment of gingival inflammations, such as gingivitis, are known within the art. However, prolonged gingivitis leads to the formation of periodontal pockets, gingival recession, and bone resorption. If left untreated, gingivitis may develop into perdiodontitis, a condition that may ultimately result in tooth loss. Even if gingivitis is properly treated and eliminated, recessed gums will still remain even after the inflammation subsides. Methods and devices such as those presented by Nachman in U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,373 of Jan. 13, 1981 and by Detsch in U.S. Pat. No. 4,509,519 of Apr. 9, 1985 and by Liebergesell et al. in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/499,033 of Nov. 30, 2006 may treat gingivitis but do not offer any way to reverse gingival recession and regenerate any lost gingival tissue.
Gum recession causes many oral care and oral hygiene problems. The receding gums expose the root of the teeth. The exposed root greatly increases sensitivity to heat, cold, and sweets, which can cause discomfort and even pain. The exposed root is also much more vulnerable to tooth decay, greatly increasing the chances for tooth loss.
The normal treatment for severe gum recession involves a gum graft, a type of periodontal surgery in which gingival tissue is surgically removed from a donor area and grafted upon the area affected by gum recession. These surgeries, however, are invasive, costly to the patient, require anesthesia, and usually require two to four weeks of recovery time. This type of surgery also causes scarring to the gingival area receiving the graft. There is an additional risk that the gum graft surgery may actually increase the rate of gum recession.
Other treatments for gum recession focus on a topical application of a regenerative medication. These methods and devices may be effective in promoting gum growth, but are not effective in killing oral microbes, treating gingivitis, increasing oral circulation or promoting osteogenesis (e.g. Yates, U.S. Pat. No. 5,741,500, Apr. 21, 1998). While the effect of regenerating gingival tissues is desirable to the user, such methods and devices fall well short of an all-in-one oral hygiene device.
There are electrical stimulation methods for inducing regeneration, similar to Zanakis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,735 of Jul. 15, 1985, which have shown promise for generic tissue regeneration, but have not been specifically implemented for gingival tissues. Once again, however, this method of regeneration also does not address any other oral malady such as gingivitis, perdiodontitis, fungal infections, or poor oral blood flow.
Other methods utilizing alternating current electricity for treating gingivitis and promoting oral hygiene, such as Liebergesell at al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/499,033 of Nov. 30, 2006 may be effective, but still have somewhat in the scope of their applications. Direct current electricity has been studied and is well known to kill common oral bacteria (“Effect of electric current and silver electrodes on oral bacteria”, Tronstad et al., Endontontics & Dental Traumatology Vol. 1: 112-115, 1985). Likewise, these alternating current methods are not able to provide the benefits of increased oral blood flow, increased osteogenesis, and gingival regeneration.
Electrical current dental treatment devices (see Nachman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,373, Jan. 13, 1981) are known to be effective in promoting osteogenesis and treating perdiodontitis, but do not address gingival regeneration. And while this device may be able to kill the bacteria associated with gingivitis and perdiodontitis, the current levels are too low for this device to be effective in killing other types of oral microbes, including fungi. Additionally, in some embodiments, this device creates a current flow not limited to the gingival region, but instead traveling throughout the body, which may have unknown adverse effects. These embodiments also require the use of a wrist strap electrode and electrolyte solution, which, at the very least, is inconvenient and cumbersome for the user.
Similar to the previous method, Detsch, U.S. Pat. No. 4,509,519 of Apr. 9, 1985 utilizes a direct current for treating oral diseases. However, this method does not address gum regeneration in any way. As with some other treatments, the configuration of this device is inconvenient and possibly uncomfortable for the patient. Electrodes are required to be formed around each tooth whose surrounding gingiva is to be treated, which would likely have to be done by a dental professional. This would be both expensive and time consuming for the patient. Likewise, if a patient were missing a tooth or perhaps many teeth, such an apparatus would not be able to be used to treat those regions of the mouth lacking teeth. Such a treatment is not viable for those who rely on dentures, as is seen with the elderly population. Also, such an apparatus requires the attachment of a metallic plate to one's skin outside the mouth. This is cumbersome, unwieldy, and unsightly for the patient. The external electrode method also does not limit the current flow to the gingival tissues, possibly affecting other areas of the body. Lastly, current levels must be manually set for each tooth area. So for each tooth being treated, a corresponding power source must be adjusted rather than have a single point of control for all the electrodes.
Another problem with the existing direct current oral treatment methods and devices of Nachman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,373 of Jan. 13, 1981 and of Detsch, U.S. Pat. No. 4,509,519 of Apr. 9, 1985 is that such methods are not effective at killing oral fungus. Under normal conditions, various fungi such as Candida yeasts live in the mouth but are kept in check by the immune system. In certain cases, as with an immune-deficient patient, the immune system is not able to control these normally harmless fungal infections. Patients may then develop oral fungal infections such as candidiasis, more commonly known as thrush. Thrush by itself is harmless, but provides a danger since the Candida yeasts can spread throughout the body causing widespread infection. These types of systemic infections can be very serious to patients with weakened immune systems, like those undergoing chemotherapy or those having other immunodeficient conditions such as HIV. Chemotherapy patients have to be especially careful when dealing with oral thrush infections, as their weakened immune system requires excellent oral hygiene to prevent such an outbreak.
Another process used to treat perdiodontitis, tooth demineralization, and oral malodor is based on a concept of heating the teeth (see Darnell, U.S. Pat. No. 6,254,391, Jul. 3, 2001). While this method may be effective in killing some types of oral bacteria and thus treating oral malodor, the patient faces an added risk of potentially damaging each tooth's pulp. Necrosis of the pulp can begin with as little as a 5.5° C. increase in pulpal temperatures, which is a risk with any method that heats the teeth. And while it is possible that such a method can also help with tooth remineralization, this process requires an external source of fluoride, as it is not readily available in saliva. Even though such a method may be able to treat oral malodor and kill bacteria, still it is limited in that it does not utilize any type of electricity to stimulate the oral tissues. This renders such a method ineffective at treating conditions of gingival recession or fungal infections.
Direct current stimulation for promoting osteogenesis is known throughout the art. However, existing methods such as Chiarenza, U.S. Pat. No. 4,175,565 of Nov. 27, 1979, may require surgical implantation of electrodes in order to achieve such results. This is inconvenient, painful, and costly to a patient. Other non-invasive methods using direct current for osteogenesis exist but are designed solely for osteogenesis and are not designed to treat gingivitis, increase blood flow, or regenerate gums (e.g., Korostoff et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,153,060, May 8, 1979).
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a non-invasive method that treats common oral defects and diseases simultaneously. Specifically, a method to concurrently treat gingivitis and perdiodontitis, to kill oral microbes including bacteria, viruses, and fungi, to increase oral blood flow, to regenerate recessed gums, to catalyze oral osteogenesis, and to promote general oral hygiene is greatly desired. Additionally, such a method would prove greatly effective in reducing tooth decay, preventing tooth loss, preventing cavity formation, and treating oral malodor due to its microbiocidal effects. This desired method would also greatly reduce the invasiveness, cost, complexity, recovery, and risks associated with other dental treatments for these conditions.